Arcadia Gays: Transition
by PriestessAmy
Summary: Warren has big news for Brooke. The question is whether she can deal or not.
1. Can You Kappa Secret

Warren paced back and forth across his room, talking constantly, trying to hype himself up for what would arguably be the most difficult moment of his life. And he beat up Nathan Prescott, twice, in one week. In many ways, there was a kind of through line between those moments and now. He knew, he knew for ages, even if he wouldn't let himself realize it. The trying too hard, the posturing, all that stupid bullshit about being alpha or beta. He fucking hated it.

In some small way, he wondered if he had Mad Max to thank for this. If he managed to survive the next hour, he would have to thank her. He spent far too long pining for her, even as she began dating not just one but eventually three girls. And all while amazing Brooke was right there just waiting. If Max could be a big bad hero who got all the girls, then you didn't have to be some hulking badass to find your way in the world.

Was he in love with Max? Or had he simply wanted to be her? Well, there was the eternal question.

A knock at the door caused him to jump slightly. True to form, Brooke walked right in without forcing Warren to open the door for her. She'd never been fond of the whole gentleman thing, even if he apparently looked awesome in a bowtie. "Dude, that was a fucking real-ass text you sent me. What's the matter?"

Unfortunately, when you were in a relationship, especially once you got past the rose tinted glasses, the last thing you wanted was for your partner to suddenly get super serious. Like, three times outta four, that meant you wanted to break up. Frankly, Warren still didn't know how to make it clear he needed her to be there for him without her trying to jump the gun and assume that something terrible was about to happen. So he just fucking went for it.

"Um... I wanted to have like... one of those scary, serious sit-down-talk-type things. Because I trust you." He hoped that would be enough of a lead-in to keep her from having a heart attack. Brooke was as cool as they came, but she also hid a deep, terrifying temper. She was as scary as she was fun.

"Oh. Okay, um..."

"It's cool, it's cool, just... Come on" He took her hand and led her over to sit on the edge of his bed. A little over the top, but screw it, too late now. "I'm really not trying to freak you out, but this is something that does kind of affect you too." He paused and took a deep breath. _You can't keep monologuing, idiot, just dive in. The more you build it up, the weirder it will be._ "I think... that I might be transgender..."

"Okay." Brooke said, though rather than her casual 'everything's chill' voice, it was a little deeper, more solid, open even. And immediately Warren knew he'd been handling this like an idiot. He should have known she'd be down for anything that was going on. She was nuts about him. "Pronouns?"

"What?" Jesus, she was quick! His head was spinning. "Oh! No, I mean... I-I'm still just trying to figure stuff out. No, I have no clue what the fuck I'm doing. Just stick with like... he/him for now." The hand holding his tightened just a touch and he released a little sigh to try and calm himself back down.

"Alright then. Do you, like, need to talk about it or whatever? Sob story, that kind of thing?" This was something he really hadn't seen too much of from Brooke before, and yet at the same time it made a lot of sense. She was a genius scientist, like him. She didn't have time for bullshit bigotry and judgment, they were too busy rushing headlong into the future. She preferred details, facts, solid evidence. And most of the time, he was very much the same.

"Nah. I guess for some people it's like... this big huge sob story and they blame their parents and all their friends and it's all this heartache. I feel for them, but mostly it's more just a dull ache that something is off, like when you're wearing shoes that are a size too small or whatever."

"Mmmm, low dysphoria then. That must make things pretty interesting." His eyebrows shot up and he looked at his girlfriend with extreme confusion. It was one thing for her to be learned, but this was getting into scary-smart territory. "Dude, chill, we're practically the same person. When I'm not hanging with you, I'm probably researching something. Sometimes I get lost in a Wikipedia link-hole and three hours later I'm suddenly fascinated by a subject I didn't care about two weeks before. Back in November I got massively into queer stuff. I'm a fucking nerd. Like you." She laughed and leaned in for a kiss.

And the conversation went on like that for a while. Brooke didn't know everything, but she knew a lot, and she knew the right questions to ask. No, he didn't know what new name he wanted. Yes, he would totally switch pronouns eventually, and was eager to start hormones. Yes, he'd already joined like three different forums and was totally jealous of girls with killer make-up skills. No, he hadn't told anyone else yet.

"Not even Max, your almost girlfriend?" What had originally been some very real rage on her part eventually turned into respect, once she actually got to know Max better. And then, just a touch of respect as her harem grew and grew. At this point, it was mostly just a constant joke between all of them. She still liked to unnecessarily mention the phrase "go ape" around Caulfield when she got the chance.

"Not even Max. I mean, she's pretty clearly more into girls."

"You do realize what you're saying, don't you?" He felt an elbow poke into his side and he seemed to remember what they were just talking about. You know, the hour-long conversation they'd just had. Duh. He was a little scattered sometimes.

"Trust me, even I haven't totally wrapped my mind around this yet."

The one question he hadn't really expected, but appreciated the most, was the final one. "Wanna wear my hoodie?"

"Hell yes I do. Thanks" A moment later and he was comfortably snuggled up in her purple hoodie, which fit remarkably well.

Brooke wasn't the most touchy feely person in the world, but when she cuddled, she went whole-hog. The moment the hoodie was on, she was pressed tight up against him, giving a little nuzzle. "Hey. Whatever you figure out or decide, even if stuff changes, or you decide not to bother with hormones, or pretty much anything. You're not an alpha. You're not a beta. You are a goddamn Omega."

"You really know how to sweet-talk a girl, Brooke."


	2. A Nu Name

Brooke poked her head into Warren's room to the sound of her on the phone. It was still a bit strange to think of Warren being her girlfriend because the name and the pronouns didn't quite line up. But at the same time, deciding what new name you wanted was probably super frustrating and difficult. Never mind that Warren was supposed to be in the midst of calling her family and coming out to them, so she was likely in need of some serious moral support.

"What? Mom, please, no, you can't be..." Brooke frowned and immediately took a seat next to Warren on the bed, rubbing her back slowly. This did not sound like a conversation that was going well. "There's no way, no one will be able to talk to me without picturing some enormous nordic viking woman. Yeah. No, yeah. Yes. I kno-. Yes. Yeah, I know. Okay. O-Okay. I will. I love you too." Well, that sounded less bad, but more weird.

Finally Warren hung up and looked at Brooke with this hangdog expression. "I know you want to know how that went. And I want to tell you. But... I-I can't repeat what my mother asked of me. There's no way! She's crazy." She huffed and took Brooke's hand, holding it and staring at it for a moment or two. "There's this family name, she said she was going to call me it before the doctor told them what my gender was. She said this was her chance to keep the name in the family. But..."

Brooke smiled and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Hey. It's all good. Maybe there's some kind of compromise or-"

"Wilhelmina, Brooke! She wants me to go by Wilhelmina." When you were someone's significant other, you had to be supportive and understanding. You had to pick them up and dust them off and tell them it was going to be okay. What you were absolutely not supposed to do was let go of their hand and burst out laughing more or less right in their face because their mother insisted on their new name making them sound like a nerd from Germany. Poor Warren just sat there waiting for Brooke to stop laughing until she was gasping for air. "Well thanks for proving my point, at least. I guess."

Still giggling, Brooke wrapped her arms tightly around her before she could get away. "Baby no! I'm sorry, but it really is a kind of goofy name. But it also... I mean... like you know in a loving way... it does kinda fit. You could... go as Mina! Tell everyone it's a Dracula reference or whatever. So you've got this hot, sexy nickname. And deep down, this nerdy reality that honors your family. It's perfect for you." She kissed her girlfriend's cheek and smiled warmly. "Besides, how cool is that? Five minutes into telling her about this and she's already back into mom mode, jumping down your throat about putting your new name to good use. That means she gets it, and that's so radical!"

She nervously rubbed the back of her neck and nodded slowly. "Mina... I... I could live with that. It's nice. Really pretty."

"Just like you." Brooke grinned and raked her fingers through the brown locks. It'd grown out quite a bit the last few months. Her hair was now long enough that it could even be pulled back into a small ponytail.

Mina blushed. "I'm a lucky girl."


	3. Mu-vie Night

There was always this moment of relief whenever Mina stepped onto the girls' hall of the dormitories. Getting away from dude stench and shit. She liked girls more, even if she knew there was a cliché about girls being more catty or whatever. But it seemed as though the spring semester had brought with it a better era. Not even Victoria gave her the stinkeye for being there, mostly because Victoria didn't give anyone the stinkeye now. She was usually too busy with Kate and the others.

It was also getting easier to think of herself as Mina, though that did mean it was harder to be 'Warren' when she was with anyone but Brooke. They had agreed that perhaps it was time to start coming out to a few other people – at least everyone on the girls' hall. Brooke pointed out with no end of amusement that basically everyone was hooking up with everyone else and that she and her girlfriend would be a welcome addition to their ranks.

They eventually decided to hold a movie night after everyone had gotten back from spring break. Mina had been out getting the movies in question while Brooke orchestrated borrowing bits and pieces from everyone for the best cinematic experience. Victoria's television, Dana's sound system, Stella's blu-ray player, Alyssa was on food detail. It promised to be one last burst of fun before a return to classes.

The catch was that Brooke had advertised it as a girls-only event, so no doubt Mina was going to get a few confused glances until everything was under way.

Or a least that was what her paranoid brain had told her. At one point, as people were gathering in the media room, she heard Courtney ask Taylor about it, but the blonde just shrugged it off, and so did Courtney. It truly was a brave new world, and Mina was thankful for it. Not that she wasn't still terrified as a physically exhausted Dana and Juliet (it seemed like they were almost _always_ just showing up post-coitus) filtered into the room last, marking the start of phase two.

Brooke was her rock, taking her by the arm and standing up in front of everybody else smiling proudly. "Hey, everyone. Hope you don't mind me pulling a slight fast one on you. Tonight's movie night is also a coming out party. This..." she gestured grandly toward the bashful lady on her arm, "is my girlfriend, Mina, and I am so very, very proud of her."

She had sort of assumed that everyone would be nice if a little surprised, but the reactions she got were shocking.

There was a good deal of applause and cooing, though Max and Kate opted to launch themselves across the room to squeeze her in a group hug instead.

"Oohhhhhhh..." The sound of Courtney and Taylor's realization could be heard audibly.

Stella was chuckling, putting her hand out toward Alyssa. "Twenty bucks, babe, I told you she wasn't enby." _Shit, I didn't even realize they were dating..._

Chloe threw her arm around Victoria, laughing mostly to herself. "This school gets gayer by the second. It's kind of impressive."

Things did eventually die down and the movie marathon got underway. To help celebrate properly, the two girls had chosen a selection of classics that everyone would enjoy. Clueless, Legally Blonde, Mean Girls, that kind of thing. Everyone seemed to appreciate the fact that they had refrained from picking their usual weirdo flicks.

Each group of girls naturally settled into their little cuddle groups. Max had her girlfriends, Dana and Juliet had grown closer with Taylor and Courtney. Brooke had become pretty great friends with Stella and Alyssa, so they all stuck together.

With the movies being old favorites, there were bits of conversation here and there. No one seemed to mind interruptions. Around the time Elle Woods got into Harvard Law, Mina looked curiously at the other two and smiled. "So... when did uh...?"

They both looked like they had been expecting this conversation with someone. "Over spring break, but the actual timeline is a little more janky," said Alyssa. "How about you, when did... uh...?"

"A few months ago. But as you say. The actual timeline is a little more janky..." Mina said with a small smile. After all, how did you explain a mysterious itch in the back of your brain from the age of ten? Janky seemed like a good word to use.

Chloe took great delight in pointing out how gay seemingly all the movies were in tone. That was normally the point when Max would point out how gay Chloe seemed to think everything was. But now, after the last few months, maybe Chloe was on to something. Tai, Elle and Vivian, and... well... too much to count in Mean Girls. Were they reading too much into it? Or perhaps there was an unintended theme in chick flicks?

Not everyone lasted all the way through the movies. At some point the lovebirds decided they were ready for another round and disappeared to Juliet's room. Poor Taylor was fading, basically asleep on Courtney's shoulder, and had to be all but carried back to her bed. Chloe and Victoria had been making plans all night but were at least kind enough to make it to the end of Mean Girls before disappearing with Max and Kate in tow. Everyone made sure to bid Mina good night by name.

Only Alyssa and Stella were kind enough to hang around and clean up. "I can't believe the end of the semester is already on its way..." Mina sighed as she dropped a few things in the trash can. "Guess I just... wish I had a little more time to be a teen girl before college hits."

Brooke was pretty quick on the uptake, coming up alongside her with the stack of movies and kissing her on the cheek. "Well then, we'd better hurry to get a few more experiences in before it's too late..."

She could see the other two in her peripheral vision. Alyssa was rolling her eyes. Stella was dramatically gagging. Somehow that felt appropriate. Normal.


	4. Iota, But I Won't

When Mina walked into her dorm, Brooke knew immediately that something was wrong. And if she were a betting woman, she would have put it all down on red. Red, in this case, being her girlfriend still living up in the boys' dorm. She instinctively set aside the homework she'd been doing and made room for her on the bed, neither of them really saying anything. Mina just flopped down next to her with an exhausted sigh.

"Was it a mistake to come out to all the girls? Because I think word is spreading and all the dudes on my hall are acting weird around me. Weirder than usual. I mean I know everyone kinda stopped doing that whole 'beta fag' thing back in October. But they still seem nervous about talking to me and stuff." She groaned and splayed herself out across her half of the bed.

Brooke reached out and began toying with her hair, knowing that this kind of thing could be pretty treacherous territory. "You know, except for some of the more ridiculous bullshit you have to put up with, I don't think I've ever seen you so happy. And it's not like you can take it back now. But frankly, I think you definitely made the right call. That being said... you don't owe the truth to anyone. If you want, you can just tell a few of the people you actually like. Or you could just not bother. That's your prerogative."

Mina looked over at her kind of pathetically. She'd been having a similar problem with the administration, wanting to tell them, wanting to live elsewhere, wanting her new name on her diploma. But also not wanting to deal with all the paperwork and shit. Brooke couldn't really understand what that would be like and she didn't bother trying. She just knew it was troubling her, and that seemed to be enough. "Honestly, I don't even want to think about it right now."

There was a very different topic Brooke was looking to discuss, and this seemed about as good a time as any. But she didn't want to make it into some boring We Need To Talk thing, so she opted for a more indirect approach. "You need a massage. C'mon, up up up." She pulled Mina up to sit between her legs and began deeply working her shoulders, kneading the muscles slowly with what strength she did have. Almost instantly Mina let loose a little sighing moan, leaning more into her. She continued in silence for a while before moving her hands further down her spine, while leaning in to press a slow, gentle kiss to her neck. "I know it doesn't feel like it, but... ever since you came out, you've gotten so confident, and you hold yourself like a totally different person. And I gotta tell you, it really does it for me, girl."

There was a tiny, barely visible shiver that traveled through her girlfriend, and she looked back at her with a red face and a goofy smile. "Wait, like...?"

"Yeah. Like." Brooke's hand moved very cautiously around to Mina's front and up under her shirt, gently sliding along her stomach beneath. "Is this okay?"

"I'm an extra-hormonal teenager. Of course it's okay." Mina gave another moan as Brooke kissed her neck again while she gently fiddled with her belt. Big, scary decisions could wait for another day.


End file.
